Strength to Love (MLK)

It might be crowded out with everything happened -- we even now have the Year of the Ox (and compared to Rat) with the Chinese New Year -- but this Black History Month. I gather it is not yet "People of Color" History Month or something quite yet. I am reading some books that is appropriate to that time, including skimming a collection of Martin Luther King Jr. sermons (with his widow providing an introduction to the 1981 copy).

There is some good content here, most of them edited sermons tied to a particular biblical verse. The first to me is one of the best -- "A Tough Mind and A Tender Heart," a sermon on "Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16). As MLK notes, that is a tough thing to do, but provides a complete person. The first part in his view is a reliance on judgment, including science. The second a matter of compassion and love. And, then he argues that the nonviolence approach furthers both. This is of course what he is particularly known for and later sermons cover this ground some.

Sermons also cover the dangers of misguided conformity, being a good neighbor (pre-Fred Rogers), a "knock at midnight" (both the fear of the late knock, the tendency to resist requests of that nature but also how the darkest moments are but those before dawn provides salvation -- note he at times grants realistically that might not come, that we must sometimes rely on at most inexact success) and what being a "fool" meant to Jesus. MLK notes that calling a rich man a "fool" is not solely a result of him being rich. It is a misuse of his riches.

All of this is provided eloquently with current allusions (such as those that are misguided by advertising or the press) as well as learned philosophical references and probably more familiar to many of his audience references to biblical texts. And, let it not be lost he is a minister to a certain congregation. The first sermon respect of science should not misled that he is a Unitarian type Christian. Later sermons not only target communists but humanists. Science is criticized too, at least those who would only rest on that. For MLK, God and faith in an ultimate salvation is key.

I respect the person speaking here so do not suggest that this is just stupid. But, at some point, it did concern me. The "humanist" who does not believe in his God (putting aside just how broadly one should define that) is not just someone who relies on science. A communist might rely on the state or a specific ideology, though communists come in various forms and some probably in his time respected some form of religion, but the humanist underlines the limits of science. They honor the human, which includes love, compassion and in some fashion what is generally spoken of as the "spirit." If their aspirations are "confined to man and earth," that covers a lot of ground, including moralistic values akin to his.

I think he goes too far against them, but again, realize both his audience and his position. He is after all a Baptist minister. I personally think his overall message is not lost by facing up to a reality that lacks a supernatural deity. This surely includes his nonviolence message, which he argues works both on a a personal level and as a force of change. Two thousand years passing suggests the limits of reliance of Jesus' assumed resurrection being key to the change of humanity. It worked a lot more closer to the event. And, we do not know what the future will bring. A faith in ultimate justice very well might be ideal, if only because living one's life in that way results in the best results.

Noting that a collection of sermons, less than 175 pages, won't provide a full accounting, I think it helpful to read him overall to get a sense of his vantage point. This includes to the degree I disagree with it. I readily admit to probably not reading enough of his writings. This is a good means of dipping one's toes.